Tuesday 30 June marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Henry Ford, whose innovative ideas revolutionised transportation and brought mobility to the masses.
The state of Michigan, where the Ford Motor Company is based, proclaimed the day "Henry Ford Day", while in Washington DC hundreds downtown and on Capitol Hill enjoyed commemorative cupcakes delivered by a food truck - a initiative of which Henry Ford would have approved.
And that was just the start of a year-long celebration of the man and his achievements.
Dealers in 21 Asia Pacific markets have launched Ford Heritage month, transforming showrooms into Henry Ford exhibitions, Ford of Germany has a series of five road rallies celebrating Ford's history over the last 110 years, more than 4000 attended Ford community events in Romania, and in Britain, the company's UK Tech Centre unveiled a restored statue of Henry Ford.
Celebrations will continue in coming months in the United States, Europe and South America.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO A BETTER WORLD
Henry Ford's introduction of the automobile into the mass market transformed agricultural economies in the United States and around the world into prosperous industrial and urban markets. Many historians credit him with creating a middle class in America, while his high minimum wage - revolutionary at the time - set a precedent that influenced later management practices.
Ford initially struggled to get the company on solid financial ground, but broke through with the Model T in 1908, opening a new era in America. More than 15 were built and sold as Ford put the nation on wheels.
In 1913 he introduced the first moving assembly line for cars. Within 18 months, the time needed to build a Model T was reduced from 12.5 to 1.5 man-hours.
In 1914 Ford more than doubled the minimum wage in his factory from $2.34 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day, to reduce high turnover rates among workers.
VERTICAL INTEGRATION
Ford also tried to control all the resources needed to produce complete cars, a principle known as vertical integration - and actually achieved it with the Ford Model A of 1927.
Henry Ford died on 7 April 1947 at 83. More than 50 years after his death, in 1999, Forbes magazine named him "Businessman of the Century," and in 2012 a History Channel documentary highlighted him as one of "The Men Who Built America".
Ford executive chairman Bill Ford said: "My great-grandfather's vision was to improve people's lives by making cars affordable for the average family," said Bill Ford. "His vision to build reasonably priced, reliable and efficient cars still defines our vision today."
Newsletter note: If you use Gmail to read IOL's newsletters , note that Google is rolling out a new tabbed inbox that filters your mail into 5 separate tabs - Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. IOL emails will probably be sent to the “Promotions” tab instead of the “Primary” tab. If you don't want it that way, drag the newsletter from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. An alert will pop up. Click “yes” and your newsletters will continue to go to your Primary inbox.